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STRONG AND
others. Adopt a healthy diet and exercise and make it a routine. We live in a very materialistic society, and I believe this also leads to stress, unhappiness and a sense of being entitled and never being satisfied. Just let go.”
He also stresses the importance of support. “An emergency room is an incredibly hectic, frightening and sometimes violent place. I rely on my colleagues, and we support each other. For me, the most important thing is to realize that I’m not in it alone.” Krisanda also finds balance by taking a few minutes in a quiet place to collect his thoughts and enjoy a peaceful moment.
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Basic, whole foods can help to maintain homeostasis. “Make sure that food is fueling you,” says Mansour. “Cooked vegetables and broths are very soothing. Instead of a juice cleanse or an extreme diet, focus on nourishing, calming foods like soups, lean proteins to stabilize blood sugar levels and healthy fats to support brain function. Reducing alcohol can help improve liver function.”
Sarah Kate Benjamin, a holistic chef and herbalist in Sebastopol, California, finds her own healing rhythms by eating with the seasons and using medicinal plants in inspired, everyday dishes. Co-author of The Kosmic Kitchen Cookbook: Everyday Herbalism and Recipes for Radical Wellness, she sees herbs as life-giving examples of resilience. “Herbs have been here long before us and have experienced their own form of stressors. Working with nervous systemsupportive herbs in my food, beverages or even as tinctures really help me find balance when I’m overwhelmed.”
Some of her allies are oat tops, lemon balm, skullcap, chamomile and passionflower. For Benjamin, everyday choices play a huge role in healing. “Making small lifestyle shifts in your work or home life can really help you move into a more relaxed state. I like to think of it as a sort of mantra: ‘Help the herbs help you,’” she says. In a world that is fixated on external validation, little things matter. “If I give myself permission to do the things that really nourish me, I’ll be the best version of myself. Perhaps most importantly, I will like me, and that matters tremendously.”
Marlaina Donato is an author and recording artist. Connect at AutumnEmbersMusic.com.
Strong and Supple Joints How to Keep Hips and Knees Happy
by Ronica O’Hara
Occasional knee or hip pain affects tendons and ligaments include fatty fish, almost everyone, keeping us from lentils, nuts, vegetables like spinach and daily tasks, making sitting painful broccoli, and colorful fruit like strawberand walking difficult. Causes can range ries and oranges. from over-exercise to injuries, obesity and arthritis as we age. By the time we reach Practice tai chi, qigong or hatha yoga. 65 years or older, 69 percent of women The gentle, low-impact movements and and 56 percent of men have arthritic stretches associated with these approaches symptoms, according to Boston University get synovial fluid flowing in the larger researchers. Costly joint replacement surjoints, effecting smoother mobility and gery which carries a high risk of adverse increased flexibility; numerous studies effects is often recommended for advanced document that they reduce joint pain and cases, but by taking simple, natural prestiffness. “The key is not just to stretch, ventive and remedial measures proactively, but to balance strength and stretching in we can strengthen our knee and hip joints, a safe, mindful way,” says Andrea Trank, handle related problems if they arise and a health coach and yoga teacher in Fort remain physically strong and active. Myers, Florida. Although personal or class Ways to Strengthen Hips and Knees instruction is best, how-to videos can be found on YouTube. Consume foods that nourish bones and Walk every day. In a four-year Northwestconnective tissues. For strong bones, eat ern University study, people at risk of knee foods rich in calcium, magnesium and osteoarthritis that walked at a moderate or potassium, such as dark leafy greens (bok brisk pace for at least 10 minutes a day, one choy, Chinese cabbage, kale and collard hour a week, had one-eighth the disabled greens), figs, nuts, tofu, avocados and bone mobility of those that walked less. Posbroth. Six prunes a day boosted bone denture helps: Walking straight and tall while sity in women over 70 with osteoporosis, extending each leg back as far as it’ll go will research shows. Foods that support flexible “really let your glut muscles work,” advises
Ways to Lower Pain Levels
Consider the right supplements. Obtaining 1,000 milligrams daily of calcium and 600 international units of vitamin D is essential for bone health, according to the National Institutes of Health; consider taking a supplement if the diet is not adequate. In addition, study-proven options that reduce joint pain in the knees and hips include glucosamine and chondroitin, S-adenosylL-methionine (SAMe) and avocado soybean unsaponifiable.
The benefits of bodywork. A massage can loosen up tight muscles and realign structural issues in the knees and hips while also lowering stress-producing cortisol and raising levels of pain-reducing serotonin. A study at Canada’s McMaster University found that massage works on the cellular level to reduce inflammation and promote the growth of new mitochondria in muscles. Useful styles are Swedish, deep tissue, myofascial release and shiatsu. Ask for references from friends, medical practitioners, fitness centers and natural health stores or find online a certified practitioner with at least 500 hours of training.
Try acupuncture. A new meta-study of 39 studies with 20,827 patients concluded that acupuncture effectively reduces pain for as long as 12 months, and the National Institutes of Health endorses it for knee pain. “It is believed to stimulate the nervous system and in turn, the way the brain registers pain signals,” says acupuncturist Daryl Thuroff, at the Yinova Center, in New York City. Find an acupuncturist at nccaom.org/find-a-practitioner-directory. Consult a chiropractor. People with osteoarthritic knees that underwent two weeks of chiropractic knee adjustments had substantially less pain, better mobility and fewer grinding and clicking sensations in the knees, reported a study in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association. In a small study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, four out of five patients with hip arthritis noticed improved symptoms after nine or fewer chiropractic treatments. Many chiropractors offer not only spinal adjustments, but also a range of treatments from exercises to prolotherapy.
Explore injection therapies. Known as regenerative medicine, these therapies use injections in the knee or hip to naturally stimulate the body to produce collagen and rejuvenate tissue. In a British Medical Bulletin meta-study, 82 percent of patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee were satisfied with prolotherapy, which uses dextrose injections. Platelet-rich plasma injections use centrifuged platelets from the patient’s body, and have been used by athletes like Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal to treat sports injuries.
Ronica O’Hara is a Denver-based health writer. Connect at OHaraRonica@gmail.com.
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Stressed-Out Teens
Ways to Help Them Chill
by Ronica O’Hara
Being a teenager is never easy, but it’s even harder these days, with the upheaval of the pandemic intensifying the normal academic, social and hormonal turmoil of these pivotal years. It’s no wonder teens are reporting record levels of stress, anxiety and depression: In a Pew Research survey, 70 percent of teens said mental health was a major problem among their peers—and that was in February, before the pandemic hit. A recent online poll found that most teens are worried that the pandemic will affect their family’s physical or financial health and that many feel lonelier than usual and worry about losing ground in academics and activities.
Extending a helping hand to teens is not always well received. They can be notoriously resistant to advice, even when they’re stressed, partly because of their brain chemistry, explains Gail Saltz, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell School of Medicine and host of the Personology podcast. A teen’s highly active amygdala makes risktaking a thrill even as the frontal lobe that weighs consequences is not fully developed, while at the same time, a teen seeks independence—an identity and freedom to be more like an adult. “This combination means their capacity and interest in taking parental direction is not there,” she says. “As a result, parents in reaction often get louder and more insistent in telling them what to do, which fails and drives them further away.”
The best way to communicate with a stressed teen, say many child psychologists, is to listen deeply while letting them do most of the talking, and offering sympathetic support while withholding judgment. Instead of giving advice, “Validate your teen’s experience and attempt to step into their shoes. Let your teen know that you hear them, that you support them in their decisions and
ask your teen what you can do to help them,” advises clinical psychologist Alyssa Austern, PsyD, of Chatham, New Jersey. Other steps can help a teen weather this time of high stress:
1Back up the basics. Make sure there’s healthy food and snacks in the fridge. Encourage teens to exercise daily, especially outdoors, and support them in getting eight to 10 hours of sleep.
2Make self-compassion a family habit. The self-compassion approach to self-care, which is rapidly gaining ground among psychologists, has three elements: treating ourselves as kindly as we would a dear friend, realizing that many other people have the same problems so we’re not alone, and mindfully and nonjudgmentally observing our emotional state.
This method has proven to be helpful not just for adults, but for teens, as well. A University of Edinburgh meta-analysis that synthesized 17 studies of more than 7,000 teens in six countries concluded that those with high levels of selfcompassion had lower levels of stress caused by anxiety and depression. University of North Carolina researchers found that teens exhibited lower stress, anxiety and depression, as well as more resilience and gratitude, after six self-compassion sessions.
A good place for parents to start is with themselves: If they are anxious, overprotective or fearful, a teen is likely to follow suit, reports a study in the Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology. Helpful books, websites and programs for both teens and adults can be found at Self-Compassion.org, operated by Dr. Kristin Neff, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin who was a pioneer in the concept.
3Engage them with creative activities. As teens can seek independence, making sure they spend quality time with the family is also important for their well-being, research shows. “Find ways to connect, converse and unwind together as a family,” advises Crissy Fishbane, of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, co-founder of HER Health Collective, an online community for mothers. “Teens need to see their parents engaging in self-care behaviors themselves, and it’s even better if you can engage in self-care as a family.” She suggests taking a virtual or outdoor yoga class together, playing a board game, having sudoku competitions, learning deepbreathing techniques or starting a family book club.
4Encourage reaching out to help others. A study in the Journal of Adolescence suggests that altruistic behaviors, including large and small acts of kindness, may increase teens’ feelings of self-worth, especially if it involves helping strangers. In Poland, the more teens helped out others in a flood, the more supportive and proactive they became, another study found. Depending on their interests, teens may be drawn to local environmental, social justice, religious or political activities. DoSomething.org offers useful ideas and links, and environmental projects for teens can be found at EarthForce.com, SierraClub.com and GlobalClimateStrike.com.
Ronica O’Hara is a Denver-based health writer. Connect at OHaraRonica@gmail.com.
Other Helpful Resources Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens and Young Adults: centerformsc.org/ msc-teens-adults Seven Expert Tips for Talking with Teens:ParentAndTeen. com/keep-teens-talking-learn-to-listen/tal
How to Communicate with Your Teen Through Active
Listening:Psy-Ed.com/wpblog/communicate-with-teen The Kid’s Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference
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